The present invention relates generally to networks, and in particular to a system and method for addressing nodes within a network.
Wired node networks often include a master node or node controller and one or more slave nodes. The nodes are often addressed either at manufacture or during installation and/or maintenance. The address is stored by the node using, for example, non-volatile memory storage, discrete hardware inputs, or other means. Because each node is connected to a shared communication bus, the unique node addresses are utilized to distinguish which communication messages each node should act upon, and which messages should be ignored. If multiple nodes were to reply at the same time, bus contention would occur and the resulting response would be indecipherable. Also, for some buses and/or bus speeds, a terminating resistor may be needed at the end of the communication bus to prevent reflections and improve the speed and reliability of communications.
In a network of sensors, each node's address must correlate to the node's physical location, such that the data received from the node can be properly handled. Thus, the host must also be programmed with the unique addresses at the time of manufacture, installation and/or maintenance of the network, or the host must generate addresses based upon knowledge of the system. Additionally, when maintenance of a node is necessary, a replacement node must either be given the same address as the node requiring maintenance, or the host must be provided with a new address of the replacement node. It is desirable to provide an automatic system and method for addressing nodes such that the addressing step may be removed from manufacture of the nodes and/or any manual steps for addressing nodes during installation may be eliminated.